Mario Kart, you're dead to us now.

Little did I know that the department was also a mobile game developer. Racing games, in fact. Its first, Badayer Racing, is a pretty standard effort. Tilt your iOS or Android device to steer your off-road buggy, hit the power-ups, use the handbrake to drift through turns, etc. It's rudimentary, but not bad. Plus, it's free to download and there are no ads.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Well, no ads other than the propaganda billboards lining the course, which tell players to not smoke and remind them that all are equal under the law. Somewhere, there's a Paul Verhoeven film waiting to spring forth. But I digress.

Today, I got an email alert from the Dubai Police. (Yes, I joined their mailing list, lest I miss out on them adding a Koenigsegg to their motor pool or whatever.) It promoted a new racing game.

God help me, it's fairly entertaining. The music. The sounds. The camels. It appears to use the same game engine as Badayer Racing, right down to the game menus themselves. Likewise, there are power-ups lining the course. The good ones—healthy proteins and vegetables—give your steed a blast of energy. The bad ones—chocolate bars, potato chips, cans of Red Bull (not kidding)—make your camel rear his head and slow down.

Ultimately, I think I got lapped by the winning camel on my first try. This cannot stand. So please excuse me—I need more practice on the most unlikely guilty pleasure of the year, all courtesy of a police department that has a Bugatti.